Are We In A New Gold Age of Men’s Distance Swimming?

In April, Daniel Wiffen shocked the swim world by ripping a 14:34.91 1500 meter freestyle at the Stockholm Open, making him the fourth-fastest performer in history. Wiffen has made major moves this year, wreaking havoc on the men’s distance freestyle Irish records. Part of what made the swim so impressive was the meet and time of year it was done–it was the only time on the top 10 list that wasn’t done at a senior international championship or international trials meet.

Just a week later though, Germany’s Florian Wellbrock responded at the Berlin Open. He threw down a 14:34.89 to take over as the fastest performer in the world this year and become the fourth fastest performer all-time, just two-hundredths ahead of Wiffen’s time. His swim also makes it two entries on the top 10 list not done at an international championships or trials.

Top 10 Men’s LCM 1500 Performers All Time (As of 5/8/23)

1. Sun Yang (CHN) – 14:31.02, 2012
2. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) – 14:32.80, 2022
3. Grant Hackett (AUS) – 14:34.56, 2001
4. Florian Wellbrock (GER) — 14:34.89, 2023
5. Daniel Wiffen (IRL) – 14:34.91, 2023
6. Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) – 14:36.10, 2022
7. Bobby Finke (USA) – 14:36.70, 2022
8. Ous Mellouli (TUN) – 14:37.28, 2009
9. Connor Jaeger (USA) – 14:39.48, 2016
10. Mack Horton (AUS) – 14:39.54, 2016

After a rather sleepy few years in the post-Sun Yang 1500 free era, men’s distance swimming has exploded. Suddenly, the field is littered with competitors and when the championship heat steps up to the blocks, it feels like the win could come from anywhere. Half of the top 10 performers made the list with times from the last two years. And as of publishing, the slowest time on the list from the last two years is Bobby Finke‘s 14:36.70, which slots him into seventh.

Swim fans have felt frustrated for years at broadcasts cutting to commercial during distance events. But now, it’s even more aggravating as part of what makes this resurgence of men’s distance swimming so interesting is that each competitor has a different race strategy. Typically, Wellbrock and Mykhailo Romanchuk mark each other closely through the bulk of the race until whoever has the most left in the tank makes a move in the closing 500 meters of the race.

Then, there’s Finke who has electrified with his strategy of running down his competitors with incredible closing speed. With Finke in the water, it feels like there’s no lead that’s safe on the final 50. His double gold in Tokyo win in the 800 at Budapest Worlds prompted discussion about if other competitors could respond to that strategy.

In the 1500 at Budapest Worlds, Gregorio Paltrinieri did just that. He barreled out from the start of the race and established a huge lead. But instead of fading, like many expected him to, the lead continued to grow. And not only was he ahead of his competition, but he was ahead of Sun Yang‘s world record pace. Yang’s closing speed caught up with Paltinieri, but he held on for the win with a 14:32.80, making him the second fastest performer in history.

These electric performances at the Olympics and Worlds, combined with Wiffen and Wellbrock’s historic in-season times have reanimated men’s distance swimming. It’s not just individual swimmers turning in legendary performances where they were racing largely against the clock, it’s the combination of speed and the number of swimmers in on the action.

Over half of SwimSwam readers think that Wellbrock is the favorite in Fukuoka. That’s fair, especially given Wellbrock’s consistency: he’s been on the podium at every major international meet he’s raced at since 2018, and he’s tied with Paltrinieri for the most sub-14:37 swims. But given the wealth of talent we expect to be in the field, it doesn’t seem wise to count anybody out–either from a medal or a historic time.